'56 bodies, 56 stories -- all have a sad ending': Unclaimed bodies laid to rest in Covington
Updated
Dr. Charles Preston began reading through the 56 biographies Friday night but never completed the task. Midway through the process the reading became too heavy.
"Fifty-six bodies, 56 stories -- all of them have a sad ending,'' said Preston, St. Tammany Parish's coroner.
Preston led a gathering at Bagnell & Sons Funeral Home in Covington on Saturday (April 21) to inter the remains of 56 bodies that had gone unclaimed at the coroner's office since 2010.
The bodies go unclaimed for any number of reasons, he said. Sometimes investigators discover a family rift that even death can't mend. In others, families cannot afford the cost of a burial. In some cases, there's just no one left.
Preston told the story of one man, 97 when he died. Coroner's investigators discovered a sad tale: The man had grown up in an orphanage, outlived his children and had no other relative to claim his body. He was orphaned a second time.
The bodies of the unclaimed essentially become wards of the coroner's office, Preston said. In St. Tammany's cases, the bodies were cremated and the remains stored at Bagnell and, later, at the morgue, Preston said.
It gnawed at Preston. "Every human deserves respect and dignity,'' he said. "And sitting on a shelf in the coroner's office isn't what I had in mind.''
A group from Leadership North Shore, an organization that fosters civic involvement and seeks to groom community leaders, offered help. A project was born: Leadership North Shore's class of 2017 would raise money to buy a crypt to be the final resting place of current and future unclaimed bodies.
Spearheaded by class members Ashleigh Taylor, Tonya Allen, Mel Carter, Wendy Shipley, Maritza Perez and Gayle Green, the project raised $5,600. It was enough to purchase a spot for the remains of 800 bodies, class members said. "We just felt everybody needed and deserved a dignified burial,'' Allen said Saturday.
Flanked by the Leadership North Shore members and Bob Gunn Sr., one of a legion of chaplains for the coroner's office, Preston led a brief service at the crypt under a clear blue sky.
The bodies might be unclaimed, Gunn told the small gathering, but only by human beings. Quoting the apostle Paul, Gunn said nothing can separate us from the love of God.
"They may have died alone,'' Preston said. "But they lived lives.''
"Fifty-six bodies, 56 stories -- all of them have a sad ending,'' said Preston, St. Tammany Parish's coroner.
Preston led a gathering at Bagnell & Sons Funeral Home in Covington on Saturday (April 21) to inter the remains of 56 bodies that had gone unclaimed at the coroner's office since 2010.
The bodies go unclaimed for any number of reasons, he said. Sometimes investigators discover a family rift that even death can't mend. In others, families cannot afford the cost of a burial. In some cases, there's just no one left.
Preston told the story of one man, 97 when he died. Coroner's investigators discovered a sad tale: The man had grown up in an orphanage, outlived his children and had no other relative to claim his body. He was orphaned a second time.
The bodies of the unclaimed essentially become wards of the coroner's office, Preston said. In St. Tammany's cases, the bodies were cremated and the remains stored at Bagnell and, later, at the morgue, Preston said.
It gnawed at Preston. "Every human deserves respect and dignity,'' he said. "And sitting on a shelf in the coroner's office isn't what I had in mind.''
Spearheaded by class members Ashleigh Taylor, Tonya Allen, Mel Carter, Wendy Shipley, Maritza Perez and Gayle Green, the project raised $5,600. It was enough to purchase a spot for the remains of 800 bodies, class members said. "We just felt everybody needed and deserved a dignified burial,'' Allen said Saturday.
Flanked by the Leadership North Shore members and Bob Gunn Sr., one of a legion of chaplains for the coroner's office, Preston led a brief service at the crypt under a clear blue sky.
The bodies might be unclaimed, Gunn told the small gathering, but only by human beings. Quoting the apostle Paul, Gunn said nothing can separate us from the love of God.
"They may have died alone,'' Preston said. "But they lived lives.''
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